About a year ago, when Ben's lump first appeared, we were told by a number of medical professionals and friends, "Kids get lumps all the time. It is nothing to worry about." And typically, that is pretty sound advice.

Unfortunately, in Ben's case, the lump was cancer, and it was definitely something to worry about. Now, we find ourselves in another "It is nothing to worry about" situation.

Last month we entered the maintenance phase of Ben's chemo treatment. This involves daily chemo given orally, and a monthly run of steroids, as well as monthly visits to the clinic for infusions. The goal is to keep his immune system moderately suppressed, but not crashed. That is the goal. But right now it is not working out that way.

When we visited for our monthly infusion and labs last week, we found out that Ben's numbers had unexpectedly crashed. We are told that this is not uncommon when kids transition to Maintenance. "Getting the chemo dosing right can be tricky, and each person responds differently. It is nothing to worry about at this point. We are going to watch and draw labs again in a week." And I believe that.

We were mentally prepared for this to happen. We were warned that sometimes kids crash at this point. It is nothing to worry about.

Unless it isn’t. Then it is definitely something to worry about. But right now, it isn’t. God forbid, it ever is.

Ben's is on a run of steroids right now, and that wipes him out. He is tired and emotional. I know that is probably just the steroids, but this week is hard. Hard not to worry.

We go back for labs at the end of the week. Friday can't come soon enough.

One day at a time.

God is faithful,

Chris